“This wife who you took from him, did she displease him?” Heather asked his story sounding more like a tale than truth, yet it would explain much about what had happened to change Quinn so drastically. And her heart ached for him.
“Not yet, though she feared that she would. You see Haidar, the master, had five children from five different wives and they were all daughters. He wanted a son, demanded a son, and he proclaimed that any daughter born before he was given a son would be killed. So the next wife who got pregnant and gave him a daughter—” Rhys stopped abruptly the horrendous memory not one he wanted his wife to have. “So, I agreed to take her and when I bid Haidar farewell, he never knew that his wife was safely concealed in one of the gifts he had bestowed on me.”
“How very brave of you. You saved this woman and her child. Did she have a son?”
“I do not know, and she did not want me to know or know her destination once I left her on her own. We both knew what would happen if Haidar came for us. No one could withstand his brutal torture.”
“How long ago was this?” she asked.
“Three years.”
His time spent as a slave plus three years made it ten years, the exact number of years Quinnhad been gone. She tucked the thought away and asked, “Why wait three years to come after you?”
“The woman was wise and left a trail that would make him believe that she had run away but had remained in his country. And he would have never thought I had been involved with her disappearance.”
“Why?”
“I have told you enough,” Rhys said abruptly. “Now you see why it is imperative that you obey me. He seeks not only word of his wife and child, but revenge for me betraying him. His attack on us that day, his brutal killing of my two warriors, the culprit in our bedchamber, and now this severed head, is all to show me that I cannot stop him. He will have what he wants.”
She cringed as she spoke. “He reminds you again with the gorged-out eyes in the severed head that you will not see him coming. Do you know who the head belongs to and why the head was only left? And where was the head found?”
“Enough dreadful talk for one day,” Rhys snapped. He reached for the goblet of wine and handed it to her.
Her trembling gone and feeling much improved, Heather took the goblet, but did not drink. “If the head was found on your land, then how did the person get past your men without being seen?”
“Enough!” Rhys ordered. “Now you will tell me why you went into the woods and why you were running after a wolf.”
Heather did not let his shout or demand bother her. She was so very pleased that he had shared some of his past with her, since it helped her to understand how the Dark Dragon came to be born.
She smiled and kissed his lips gently. “Thank you for trusting me enough to share part of your past.”
“Do not think to distract me with kisses,” he said, though the kiss certainly had brought attention to his manhood. “Tell me of the wolf.”
Heather took a sip of the wine and handed the goblet to Rhys, and he took a sip as she said, “I was not running after him. I ran behind him to protect him from your warriors. I knew they would not dare draw their bows with me so close to him.”
“A wise conclusion for a foolish action.”
“Not to me,” Heather said in defense of herself. “The wolf needed my help.”
“And you knew this how?”
Heather took the goblet from her husband and sipped slowly.
“Delaying in answering me will not help,” he advised and slipped the goblet out of her hand to place on the table.
“It will delay having you think me a fool.”
He caressed her lower lip with his thumb, not trusting his lips after her gentle kiss had stirredhis hunger for her. “Never would I think you a fool, wife—foolish perhaps—but never a fool.”
His response brought a smile to her face and his touch brought flutters to her stomach. Good Lord, but she loved this man beyond reason. “Since I was young, I had a certain way with animals. They came to me for comfort, help, and love, and I gave it most willingly.”
“Are you saying the wolf came to you for help?”
“I believe he did, for I heard his distress quite clearly, though I had little time to make certain of his trust since your warriors were on my trail so fast.”
“I am glad to hear that.”
“By the time I removed the sliver of wood from his paw, your warriors were there. I tried to warn them away, telling Pitt that the wolf meant them no harm, but to no avail. I had little choice but to protect the innocent animal.”
